Comments (32)

Odds are still that Peyton Manning will have fewer playoff victories at Denver than Tim Tebow had. (Not a statement on Tebow’s talents, such as they are; just an educated guess that Peyton doesn’t have that much left in the tank.)

If getting Peyton Manning allows the Broncos to rid themselves of Tebow then it doesn’t matter if Manning has nothing left and the Broncos go 0-16; the Broncos will win more playoff games with whoever follows Manning than they would ever win if they couldn’t toss off their current albatross.

Tebow may have been a poor passer, but he’s inspirational, tough as coffin nails (is that the expression?) and athletic. Not bad attributes for a “field general!”

Wearing one’s Christianity on their sleeve may wear thin round these parts, but I bet 90% of any football looker room anywhere – from an L.A. high school to the air force academy to Notre Dame to freaking Chico State – looks at that stuff and thinks to themselves: “I’d follow that guy to the gates of Hell.”

Tebow was a problem. But getting rid of Tebow was a bigger problem. Only signing Manning would allow the Broncos to ease Tebow out. Five years of overpriced Manning may outweigh 15 years of underperforming Tebow.

It’s not like Bobby Douglas won Super Bowls or is in the Hall of Fame.

Oh no. As a 49er fan, I couldn’t imagine what the 49ers saw in a 36 year old, 4-neck-surgeries-in-the-last-12-months Manning.

This is hardly original critiquing, but Manning might’ve looked good for a couple hours worth of drills, but what’s he going to look like midseason? What if the 49ers start out 2-3 and Manning’s suffered a bunch of knockdowns? Is Manning going to persevere, or be looking to shelve the season?

Neither Moss nor Manning are the kind of players that made the 49ers season so magical last year.

I completely agree. The 49ers may have made a big mistake by even talking with Manning. He’s old and coming back from injury … personally, I think Smith is good enough for now; we need more young developing QB options.

Agreed, sadly, that even talking to Manning was a mistake. Football people make such a big deal about the psychological aspect to the game; Harbaugh gets Smith’s head right and Smith goes out and has his best season ever, and how do the 49ers respond? By pursuing a decrepit Payton Manning. “Thanks for everything, Alex, but really, we’d prefer 60% of Payton Manning to 100% of you.”

The 49ers are about to learn that while it’s difficult to upgrade the qb position – even from mediocre to slightly above average – it’s really, really easy to downgrade. If the 49ers are forced to go with Kapernick because Smith signed elsewhere, by about week 9 there won’t be a 49er fan around willing to trade Kapernick’s wild arm for Smith’s conservative one again.

(I hope I’m wrong about Kapernick but the 49ers don’t seem too high on him.)

I kinda get the impression that after Harbaugh took over a team one part 3rd rounders and one part undrafted players,* threw them all together in a shortened off-season, then came within a play of the Superbowl, that the 49ers brass and especially Harbaugh think they can take anyone at any point in their career and get them to at least overachieve. In other words, looking at the Manning interest and the Moss signing, I wonder if the 49ers front office isn’t already suffering from hubris.

*Lost amidst all the back patting over player personnel is the fact that 10 of the 49ers 22 staters were (often top-10) first round picks. 10 of 22 starters were considered blue-chippers before joining the then-dysfunctional 49ers. And several others were 1st day picks, at least. Harbaugh didn’t exactly inherit a bare cupboard.

Agreed, sadly, that even talking to Manning was a mistake. Football people make such a big deal about the psychological aspect to the game; Harbaugh gets Smith’s head right and Smith goes out and has his best season ever, and how do the 49ers respond? By pursuing a decrepit Payton Manning. “Thanks for everything, Alex, but really, we’d prefer 60% of Payton Manning to 100% of you.”

No matter the condition of Manning’s neck, it can’t be as fragile as the emotions of some fans. If Smith signs with Miami I’ll eagerly await the press conference where he states that he only left the 49ers because he felt jilted and butt-hurt at their advances to Manning. If that were to happen, when I finished wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes, I’d eagerly await the castigation of some fans yelling at the 49ers front office, “Do you see what you’ve done? You hurt his feelings and now he’s left us” so that I could double over in gales of laughter once again.
Alex Smith is a free agent — his own commodity. Harbaugh and the owners are in charge of a larger commodity.
And far from being a shrink who got “Smith’s head right”, Harbaugh was a masterful coach who managed to work an offense around Smith’s limitations. In the 2011 regular season the 49ers ranked 26th in total yards, with the story becoming clearer in the breakdown — 29th in yards passing while 8th in yards rushing. The defense, on the other hand, was exceptional — 4th against overall yards while first against rushing yards (although 16th against the pass). Clearly the major strength of the 49ers is their defense.
The idea behind the acquisition of Manning may have been simply the clear-headed realization that a top-notch defense probably has only a couple of years before they decline, either from injuries or contract limitations, and that the ingredient the 49ers most needed for a Superbowl title was a presence at QB for the offense to coalesce around within that time frame. Of course it would have been a gamble considering Manning’s neck problems but gambles sometimes pay off. And yes 60% of Manning still likely translates to more than 1 for 13 third down conversions in a championship game, which was 100% of Smith.

I agree with this. Smith is still a sh*tty QB and people are greatly overlooking this unfortunate fact.

The other force that is likely to hit 49er fans like a ton of bricks next season is reversion to the mean. What I mean is, that defense that was so ridiculously good in 2011, isn’t going to be as good in 2012. And Smith will be just as sh*tty as ever. They play in a weak division, so they should get back to the playoffs, but this team is not a contender.

An aging Manning and an elite defense would have been a great combo in SF. Both have a shelf life of about 3 years, so that matches up pretty well. The only thing with a long NFL shelf life is a young, elite QB. But the 49ers haven’t had one of those since Steve Young replaced Montana.

And the disrespect being shown Manning by this kind of talk is incredible. One of his great strengths is unloading the ball quickly to avoid taking too many hits without giving up opportunities for big plays. Manning is exactly the kind of player who should do well as he gets older.

Actually they did. Jeff Garcia was on his to becoming a potential HOFer until York, Donahue and company blew it up. (Before you laugh, look at Garcia career arc and numbers) Remember they replaced Mariucci (who I’m no fan of) with Dennis Erickson who I am less a fan of. Its taken them this long to put it all back together.

As someone who watched Peyton Manning for four years at Tennessee and knew how rare his talent was even then (did I ever have a big laugh at all the nonsensical Ryan Leaf “upside” discussion during the draft), all I can tell you is that you should not discount what he can do for the Broncos. I also wonder about his health, and whether he can be durable enough to be effective, but I would not bet against him…ever. People love to laugh about how he could never beat the Flagators, and how he is the best “regular season quarterback” in NFL history, but I predict that he will bring transcendent change to the Broncos if the OC and Offense are ready to let him come in and lead.

The difference between the Colts’ outcomes in 2010 and 2011 is all one really needs to identify the most valuable player to ever suit up in the NFL. The Irsays never deserved Peyton. I wish them good luck with Mr. Luck in 2013, because they are going to need it.

End of the day, Manning even at 75% is better than Tebow at 100%. Also consider what the Broncos were able to accomplish DESPITE Tebow’s three and a half quarters of incompetence, and the fact that they have a boatload of cap room (even with the Manning signing, probably) to pick up free agents who want to come play with/for Manning. The defense will probably be even better, as should the young WR’s.

If I were a fan of one of the other teams in the AFC West, I’d be saying “Jesus fucking Christ”, too.

St. Timmeh’s from FL, Jacksonville’s attendance has been going down, so I think that might be a pretty good fit.

The Evangelicals in FL will go nuts, and buy up Jaguars jersey’s with his name and number on them as if they were guarantees of sitting 2nd closest to Jesus’ right hand, after the apocalypse happens. The spot right next to Jesus’ right hand is reserved for St. Timmeh.
That’s if St. Timmeh ISN’T really Jesus in football player form.

I’m sure someone more knowledgeable, or funnier, than I am will correct me about which team.

Potential, Tebow’s not a good starting QB now but he does have some really good elements that an ambitious OC could like as possible building blocks- if he goes to New England or Green Bay I’d actually worry about him being a great QB.

And I don’t think they will, since they just signed David Garrard.
Whew!
I was afraid that, after losing out on Harbaugh last year, and Manning this year, they’d trade for St. Timmy of the Rockies and make him St. Timmy of Biscayne Bay, just to sell some tickets.

Watch, “The Evil Hoodied Genius,” Bill Belechick, will get him, and figure out some way to mix him into the offense, and we’ll be forced to watch, read, and listen, to two weeks of ‘Tebow was critical to the Pat’s being here’ bebop, from the sports reporting idiots before next years Super Bowl.
OY!

From your mouth to God’s ears. I’m not sure Garrard is better than Moore, who may have potential under a coach not named “Sparano.” But we shall see. I thought the coach was the #1 problem with the team last year ….

(Here is an argument that Miami would be crazy to sign Alex Smith in place of Moore.)

Ugh, I don’t want Smith.
Harbaugh got all that you could get out of him.

I’ll live with Gerrard or Moore until we can draft someone better.
I liked Chad Henne – he had a gun. It’s too bad they ruined him.
Maybe if he’d stuck around for the new coach?
But, I don’t blame him. The Dolphins have a way or ruining QB’s, ever since the Great Marino retired.
And even then, when they had him, they never ever found him a RB, or some other great WR’s. Whoddathunk “The Marks Brothers” were going to be the best receivers he’d ever have?